Liverpool City Council - high hedges

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Friday 4 July 2008

High hedges

Legislation on High Hedge Disputes

Provided you have tried and tried all other ways of resolving your hedge dispute, the law allows you to make a complaint about your neighbour's evergreen hedge to the City Council. 

When doing this you will need to prove that you have taken the three following steps to resolve the issue yourself:-

1. You must have written to your neighbour/hedge owner to try and sort out the issue.  If a first letter does not get a response, you must have sent them a second one.   You can only come to us when you have written two letters and had no response to either - and have carried out steps 2 and 3.  You must keep copies of your letters, as we will want to see them and the dates they were sent.
   
   
2. You must be able to prove that you have arranged for some sort of mediation exercise to be carried out, to help you and your neighbour to come to a compromise (see below for advice).
   
   
3. You must have told your neighbour/hedge owner of your intention to complain to the Council. This should be in the form of a letter, which you will need to show us a copy of.                      

If, however, negotiation and mediation fail, you can then submit a formal complaint to us so that we can act as an independent and impartial third party. 

We charge a fee of £400 for dealing with High Hedge disputes.

What we will do

Our role is not to mediate or negotiate between you and the hedge owner.  The Act tells us that what we must decide whether the hedge is affecting your reasonable enjoyment of your property. 

When we do this, we take account of all relevant factors.  We will try to strike a balance between the competing interests of you and the hedge owner, as well as the interests of the wider community. 

If we consider the circumstances justify it, we will issue a formal notice to the hedge owner.  This will tell them what they must do to the hedge to sort out the problem, and when they must do it by.  If they do not do what we have asked them, they will be committing an offence and we can take them to court where they could be charged a fine of up to £1,000.

Remember:

• The legislation does not require all hedges to be cut down to a height of two metres.
  
  
• You do not have to get permission to grow a hedge above two metres.
  
  
• When a hedge grows over two metres, the local authority does not automatically take action unless a justifiable complaint is made.
  
  
• If you complain to us, it does not follow automatically that we will order your neighbour to reduce the height of their hedge. We have to weigh up all the issues and consider each case on its merits.
  
  
• The legislation does not cover single or deciduous trees.
  
  
• We cannot order for the hedge to be removed.  We can only ask for it to be reduced in height if we agree this needs to be done.
  
  
• Contrary to popular belief, the law does not guarantee views or access to uninterrupted light.
  
  
• There is no provision to serve an Anti-social Behaviour Order (ASBO) in respect of high hedge complaints.                   

How to make a complaint

To make a complaint, you must fill in our High Hedges Complaint form.  This will make sure that you provide us with all the information we need from you.  

When making your complaint, you must also include:-

• copies of any correspondence you have had with your neighbour about the hedge;
  
  
• a photograph of the hedge
  
  
• a plan showing where the hedge is in relation to your house and your neighbours' house, with measurements of the hedge (for example, how tall it is and how far away from your house it is).                   

If this information is not provided, we may NOT be able to help with your complaint.

The Guidance Notes attached to the High Hedges Complaint form will help you to complete it.

Mediation

If a neighbour's hedge is affecting the light to your property, the first thing to do is to talk to your neighbour.  Even if you ask us to help with your complaint, you must have evidence that you and your neighbour have tried to come to a mutually acceptable agreement. 

We cannot accept a complaint until you have made every reasonable effort to discuss the problem with your neighbour.  Approaching the Council should be a last resort.  If necessary you should suggest to your neighbour that mediation may help you come to sort it out.

All these avenues listed above must be fully exploited before the Council can become involved in your complaint.

Take a look at the Department for Communities and Local Government document Over the Garden Hedge for advice on methods of approaching your neighbour. 

Mediation UK is a national voluntary organisation dedicated to developing constructive means of resolving conflicts in communities.  You can contact the organisation itself by ringing 0117 904 6661.

Useful links:

• Department for Communities and Local Government Trees and Hedges website gives advice on:- 
• • how to approach your neighbour to try to reach an amicable solution before involving the Council;
  • choosing a garden hedge that won't cause you or your neighbour future problems; and
  • assessing whether an evergreen hedge is blocking too much daylight and sunlight to neighbouring properties.
    
    
• The Planning Inspectorate 
  
  
• Local Government Ombudsman             

Contact us if you need help:

By telephone: 0151 233 3021

By Email: planningandbuildingcontrol@liverpool.gov.uk